Gather & Grow

Years ago, I visited a small orphanage in Haiti — a place filled with resilience, laughter, and hard truths. Among the many lessons I brought home, one has stayed with me the most: the story of the moringa tree.

I remember the caregivers pointing to a simple tree growing nearby — unassuming at first glance — and describing it with deep reverence as "literal manna from heaven." To them, moringa wasn’t just a plant. It was hope in leaf form — growing exactly where it was needed most.

In a country where food insecurity and malnutrition are daily struggles, this tree offered iron, calcium, protein, and vitamins in its leaves alone. It was medicine, nourishment, and survival — growing out of rocky, dry soil where little else could thrive.

The beauty of it wasn’t just its biology — it was the belief that something so small and simple could carry so much power. The way they spoke of it felt sacred, almost mythic: a gift placed by God in the hardest places.

That experience changed how I see food, healing, and the quiet miracles nature provides — especially when we listen to the people who live closest to the land.